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Little wonder Morgan Rielly was in a good mood on Monday. 

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Not only are the Maple Leafs looking to extend their winning streak to eight games on Tuesday, a mark that has been met just five times in franchise history, the defenceman is ready to return to familiar territory.

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In more ways than one. 

The Leafs’ match against the Vegas Golden Knights, starting a five-game home stand, will represent Rielly’s first game at Scotiabank Arena since Feb. 7. Three nights later in Ottawa, Rielly took issue with Ridly Greig’s slapshot into an empty Leafs net, a play that resulted in Rielly cross-checking Greig in the head and led to a five-game suspension from the National Hockey League.

In his first two games after serving the suspension, Rielly wasn’t necessarily thrown into the fire, playing considerably less than his Leafs-high average of 24 minutes 11 seconds (he played 18 minutes 37 seconds in Vegas followed by 20 minutes 43 seconds in Colorado). 

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“Having a day at home (on Sunday) and a practice day (Monday) with a home game next, I feel like I don’t expect to be eased back in anymore,” Rielly said after practice at the Ford Performance Centre. “I feel like I’ve got my two games, I’ve got to practise and now it’s back to wherever I was beforehand.”

With the status of a banged-up Timothy Liljegren to be determined for the game against the Golden Knights, Rielly skated in a pairing at practice with Simon Benoit.

The possibility of Liljegren not playing on Tuesday brings an exclamation mark to general manager Brad Treliving’s desire for a right-shooting defenceman, a search that has been ongoing since the 2023-24 season began. If Liljegren is out and veteran Mark Giordano returns after missing five games following the sudden passing of his father, the Leafs will go with six left-shooting D-men against Vegas. No matter who the opposition is, that’s not close to ideal.

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Even if Liljegren plays, one righty and five lefties isn’t great. There has been no sign of right-handed Conor Timmins, who has mononucleosis, and the March 8 NHL trade deadline isn’t getting further away. 

Chris Tanev of the Calgary Flames has been in Treliving’s sights for months. Adam Larsson of the Seattle Kraken or Matt Dumba of the Arizona Coyotes could fit as well, but with the lack of assets Treliving has, players such as Sean Walker of the Philadelphia Flyers, Alexandre Carrier of the Nashville Predators or Erik Johnson of the Buffalo Sabres could be the way he decides to go. All of these defencemen shoot right. 

Rielly and his Leafs teammates don’t have their heads in the sand. They know they could have additions to the group before next Friday, but it’s not top of mind.

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“You’re definitely aware of the trade deadline, but you have to focus on yourself,” Rielly said. “Our group has to focus on on the people that are here now and what we can do to win (Tuesday) and later this week.

“We have our hands full. If you look at the standings, things are tight. That’s where our focus is.”

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We’d imagine Treliving might have done something already regarding a trade for a defenceman had the current D corps faltered.

Auston Matthews is on pace for 75 goals. Mitch Marner has a 10-game point streak (with three goals and 18 assists) and on Monday was named the NHL’s second star of the week. Goaltender Ilya Samsonov clearly has turned a corner, and Joseph Woll’s return is around the corner. 

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None of that takes anything away from the work of the team’s defencemen.

“Everybody has done a great job,” Rielly said. “I’m not sure exactly what that speaks to, whether it’s a team structure or team defence. But it has been great to see.”

An eighth consecutive win on Tuesday would put the Leafs within shouting distance of the franchise record, set in 1993-94 when the club won its first 10 games of the season. There has been one nine-game winning streak, and three that went eight games, most recently in 2003-04. 

Yet nothing is guaranteed. In third in the Atlantic Division with 74 points, the Leafs are four points up on the Detroit Red Wings and five on the Tampa Bay Lightning. The jockeying for positioning is bound to go down to the final week of the regular season. 

“You do look at the standings, but at the same time, you can’t be counting every point or every game in hand,” Rielly said. “We’re not talking about playoffs or who we might play or anything like that. I love where we’re at (competitively speaking).”

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